A near encounter with Reverend Horton Heat's fists

We've never met Jim Heath, whom many of you know as the Reverend Horton Heat. Or the Rev, maybe, if you're tight with him. Heath has called us a few times to express his, um, extreme disappointment with our treatment of his and his band's recent efforts, but no, we've never actually spoken with him or met him in person. To refresh your memory, he might have been angry with us for writing things like this: "The Reverend Horton Heat has been going downhill for so long, it's difficult to remember exactly what made the band worthwhile in the first place. And, obviously, they don't remember either, or else they might have hit the brakes before landing at the bottom, which is exactly where the group has ended up with Spend a Night in the Box." But who knows?

Recently, we missed a good chance to chat with Heath on August 18 at Trees, during Chomsky's CD release par-tay for its latest, Onward Quirky Soldiers. While The Deathray Davies finished up their set, we noticed Heath walk in, brushing past us on his way to the bar. And while we thought it was more than a little strange for him to be there--it wasn't exactly a bill that you'd figure was up his alley--we didn't think much of it. Hey, we don't know why people show up at Edgewater shows either, but they do, so it's best not to really think about it too much. It made more sense to us later, after speaking with Todd Deatherage, who filled us in on the reason for Heath's trip to Trees: He wanted to meet us. And by meet, we really probably mean "beat," though Deatherage says Jimmy swore to him that he wasn't going to fight because he was wearing nice clothes. All the same, Heath tried to get Deatherage to point us out; Deatherage, being the stand-up guy we know and love, refused.

So Jimmy, if you're wondering what we look like, to help you out on your next excursion to put a face to the name and your fist to that face, just look for the guy with the eye patch and the handlebar mustache. We want to make it easy for you...

Stephen P. Karlisch

Jeff "Skinny Fresh" Wade and Ruben Ayala have a few new releases in the works.

Salve! on McKinney has started hosting guest DJs on Thursdays and Saturdays, including a recent appearance by Hydroponic Sound System's Jeff "Skinny Fresh" Wade. The restaurant-bar is becoming quite the place to be seen these days, even attracting Luke Wilson and his new beeyatch, Gwyneth Paltrow, on a recent swing through town. (Simmer down, ladies; it was a joke. Our bosses have asked us to become sort of a hip-hop Alan Peppard. You know, for the kids.) Wade, meanwhile, is in the studio with his partner, Ruben Ayala, readying a few new releases as well as nailing down the details with an unnamed label that's set to put out new Hydro releases on vinyl. Get your turntables ready, yo. Can we pull that off? No? OK...

Pennywhistle Park releases its debut, The Build Up for the Big Let Down, on September 1 with a pair of shows. The band will first plug the album, released on Summer Break Records, at an in-store performance at Good Records at 4 p.m. That night, the party moves over to Club Clearview, with a show featuring sets by The Sons of Sound, Arlo (don't miss 'em) and Pleasant Grove. If you run into Pennywhistle Park singer-guitarist Lindsay Romig at the show, ask her if she's talked to her former Go Metric USA band mate Mitch Greer recently. Someone keeps e-mailing us asking about him.

The new Earl Harvin Trio record, Unincorperated, will be out September 5, and the band will be in the area shortly after to celebrate that fact, playing shows at Dan's Bar on September 7, Good Records on September 8 and Gypsy Tea Room on September 9. The disc is being released by Two Ohm Hop, which hooked up with the band after the Trio's previous label, Leaning House, called it quits last year. Catch them while they're here, 'cause it could be awhile before they're back, since Harvin and Fender Rhodes scholar Dave Palmer are always playing with someone else's band. Palmer, in fact, turned up on David Letterman's stage recently, backing up Madonna's brother-in-law, Joe Henry. Really. It's true...

BMG Distribution has a listening party for the new Spiritualized album, Let it come down, planned for August 30 at Trees, beginning at 9 p.m. The disc is in stores on September 25, and judging by the three songs we've heard so far, it'll be worth going to Trees to hear the rest of the disc. BMG's Tony Edwards says they have something special planned, so you should probably stop by. Besides, since you never can see Spiritualized onstage through all the smoke and lights anyway, it'll be like going to one of their shows, only cheaper. Think of it that way...

The lineup for the latest Buzz-Oven release has been set, and the trio of bands on the free sampler disc will be Hi-Fi Drowning, Macavity and South FM. The latter band won a battle of the bands at Trees to earn its spot on the disc, though if we were voting, we would have given it to The Filthy Reds, who came up just short in the contest. How can you not love a band that takes the stage dressed as yachtsmen (except for the bass player, who was wearing some sort of peanut/log/God-knows-what costume) and plays songs with lyrics like "Gary Busey hit me in the face and it hurt like a bastard?" Or, "I rocked 'em off/I rocked my pants off." Or, "goddamn, I wish I had a mustache." Were the songs good? Sure, but it didn't really seem to matter. Filthy Reds, you had us at Gary Busey...

Cramer officially releases its self-titled debut with a shindig at Gypsy Tea Room on September 8, with appearances by Chao and Vibrolux. Last Beat Records, the label for all three bands, moves from one project to the next that night, offering a limited edition promo of Chao's own upcoming debut to the first 75 people who show up at the Tea Room. It's a little thing those in the business like to call "corporate synergy." But not us, because we hate that word. We prefer saying "piggyback." It's just more fun...

The new Virgin Megastore at Mockingbird Station has its grand opening on September 1, featuring an autograph signing session with Fuel, one of the most inexplicably huge bands around. The band, which very well could be any other band currently on the radio, shows up at 1 p.m. We'll start caring sometime around, hmmm, let's see, oh, never. But someone does, right? Please say no...

Find some extra scratch, because September looks to be one of the best chances to see some rock and/or roll all year, at least when it comes to touring acts. Clip and save: Trees has Burning Airlines and Rival Schools on September 6, The White Stripes on September 13 and Pedro the Lion on September 25. Gypsy Tea Room has Kool Keith on September 1, Jimmy Eat World on September 18, Wilco on September 21 and Built to Spill on September 30. Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios is bringing in Unwound on September 22, The Faint on September 27 and Beulah on September 28. The Ridglea Theater hosts the return of Melodica Festival on September 14 and 15, as well as Modest Mouse and !!! on September 21 and Starlight Mints on September 28. Beachwood Sparks opens for the Black Crowes on September 17 at the Bronco Bowl Theatre, while Tricky is at Deep Ellum Live on September 26. There's something for everyone, even probably a bad metal band or three. We'll let you find out about those on your own...

The Deathray Davies are in the market for a full-time, permanent keyboard player. As in: someone without another band. If you are that person, e-mail info@deathraydavies.com. Meaning: not us...

Show up: Chomsky plays the Denton CD release party for its new Onward Quirky Soldiers on August 30 at Dan's Bar, with [DARYL] and Valve; The Polyphonic Spree, Friendly Five Gospel Singers, The Starlight Mints' Allan Vest, Mandarin, Spellbinder the Magnificent and more cram into the Gypsy Tea Room on August 31; Lucy Loves Schroeder and Austin's Kissinger are at Club Clearview on September 2 as part of the club's pre-Labor Day shindig.